Postage stamp dispenser



E I k D U I I March 12, 1968 K. o. FRAWLEY 3,372,670

POSTAGE STAMP DISPENSER Filed Oct. 18, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l I l I l FEED m BLADE v v l FEED I cARMsE 2 E o 0 i0 F, KNOB ROTAT\ON (DEG-Rees) March 12, 1968 K. o. FRAWLEY 3,372,670

POSTAGE STAMP DISPENSER Filed Oct. 18, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ila/Ill] lI/I/I/ United States Patent 3,372,670 POSTAGE STAMP DISPENSER Kenneth O. Frawley, 78 Sweetgurn Road, Levittown, Pa. 19056 Filed Get. 18, 1265, Ser. No. 497,293 4 Claims. (Cl. 118-42) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLQSURE A compact manually operated stamp dispenser which includes scissor cutting means and a stamp feeding means, synchronized with respect to each other. Stamp wetting apparatus also is included.

This invention relates to postage stamp dispensers.

An object of this invention is the provision of a device which stores, dispenses, and moistens postage stamps from a roll or strip of such stamps.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a postage stamp dispenser the structure of which is simple, and which can be manufactured at very low cost.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a postage stamp dispenser which is easy to load and operate, which creates no storage problems in the oflice or home, and which stores stamps near the moistening device.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a postage stamp dispenser which, unlike prior art devices, will dispense even the last stamp in a roll or strip.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a postage stamp dispenser which requires less force to sever from each other two stamps in a roll or strip than is required with prior art devices.

And, still another object of this invention is the provision of a device which protects stamps from destruction and from becoming intermingled with other items, following which loss may occur.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be gained by referring to the following description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an isometric view of the outward appearance of the postage stamp dispenser which is the subject of this application;

FIGURE 2 shows in graphic form the cyclic movement of three elements in the stamp dispenser;

FIGURE 3 shows a side view of the stamp dispenser with its cover removed;

FIGURE 4 shows an isometric view riage and fork attached thereto;

FIGURE 5 shows an isometric view of the plunger;

FIGURE 6 shows an end view of the stamp dispenser, with the cover removed;

FIGURE 1 is a cross section view taken through line x-x in FIGURES 3 and 6 and shows the channel by which the plunger, shown in FIGURE 5, is guided.

Referring now to the drawings, the various parts of the subject invention are housed in or upon a case 10, which is shown in FIG. 1. Protruding from the case 10 is a knob 12, the rotation of which effects operation of the device. Set within the case and visible on the outside thereof is a roller 14 which is positioned within a section adapted to receive and contain a fluid for moistening the underside of a postage stamp. Retainer clips 15 retain the roller 14 in its position in the case, and mask the fluid section from the atmosphere.

The knob 12 is mounted on a shaft 16, which shaft also mounted thereon agear 18. A gear is mounted on a shaft 22, well shown in FIG. 6, which gear meshes with gear 18. Also mounted on shaft 22 is a lifter 24 which has protrusions 26 on its periphery. Another gear,

of the stamp cargear 28, is mounted on shaft 22, and cooperates with stop spring 30 to allow operation of shaft 22 in one direction only and to assure that a roll or strip of stamps flows continuously through the device.

The protrusions 26 on lifter 24 cooperate with a recession 32 in plunger 34, set forth in FIG. 5. Plunger 34 is reciprocally mounted within case '10, and has a flat portion 37 which is guided by channel 35, formed in the case and shown in FIG. 7. In addition to recession 32, plunger 34 has a recession 36, a protruding portion 38, and another protruding portion 40.

Plunger 34 is biased downwardly by spring 42, which is attached to the protruding portion 40 and to the case 10 at 44.

The severing function performed by the subject device is eifected by a scissor-like construction made up of knife 46 and lower element 47. These two elements are rotatably mounted with respect to each other, and are attached to the case 10 by screw 48. A spring 49 biases the knife 46 and the lower element 47 toward the head of screw 48, and-causes these elements to remain in intimate contact with each other. A flange 50 is formed on the knife 46 and extends into recess 36 in the plunger 34.

A feed blade 52 is rotatably mounted in the case 10 by a screw 54, and is biased in a counterclockwise direction by a Spring 56. The edge portion 58 on the feed blade 52 is adapted to cooperate with protrusion 38 on plunger 34.

A feed carriage 60 (FIG. 4) is slidably mounted in a channel 62 formed on the inner side of case 10. A fork 64 is rotatably mounted on the feed carriage 60 by pin 65, which fork has a recess 66 formed therein. This recess cooperates with feed carriage 60 to limit the angle of rotation of fork 64. Channels 68 are formed in the case, and are so formed that fork 64 fits therein, as shown in FIG. 4.

A shaft 70 is rigidly mounted in fork 64, and cooperates with a U-shaped portion 72 formed at the end of feed blade 52.

A channel 74 is formed in the case 10, through which channel postage stamps are directed from storage area 76 (FIG. 3).

The distance travelled by feed carriage 60 is controlled by adjustment element 78, which is pivoted about pin 80 Adjustment element 78 has formed thereon protruding portion 82 and protruding portion 84. Protruding portion 82 cooperates with screw 86, which is aflixed to the case 10. Protruding portion 84 cooperates with an end of the feed carriage 60.

In order to adjust the distance travelled by the feed carriage 60, which is necessary to adapt the device to the various sizes of stamps, an operator need only rotate the screw 86. This adjustment mechanism, it will be realized, also compensates for the manufacturing tolerances of the various parts in the device.

To operate the stamp dispenser embodying the subject invention, a roll or strip of postage stamps is placed in the storage section 76, which is easily accessible by removing a section of the case 10. The loose end of the roll of stamps is threaded through channel 74 to place the perforations between the first and second stamps at the loose end of the roll or strip beneath the fork 64-.

To dispense a postage stamp, the operator need only rotate knob 12 in a clockwise direction. This causes shaft 22 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction. One of the protrusions 26 on lifter 24 comes into contact with resession 32 on the plunger 34, and with continued rotation of knob 12, plunger 34 rises. Due to the cooperation between knife 46 and the plunger 34, the element 46 rotates in a counterclockwise direction. This rotation lifts knife 46 from in front of the above channel 74.

Eventually, the protrusion 38 on plunger 34 comes into contact with edge portion 58 of the feed blade 52. When this occurs, feed blade 52 commences to rotate in a clockwise direction. Due to the cooperation between feed blade 52 and fork 64, fork 64 rotates slightly counterclockwise and comes into contact with the perforations between the stamps set in the channel 74.

Continuation of rotation of the knob 12 causes a continued rise of plunger 34, which in turn causes continued rotation of both knife 46 and feed blade 52. Continued rotation of feed blade 52 moves feed carriage 650 and fork 64 toward the roller 14, and eventually delivers the perforations between the first two stamps in the roll or strip to a position at the roller side of knife element 47 and directly beneath the knife 46.

Upon rotation of the knob 12 through an arc of 70, the protrusion 26 on the lifter 24 ceases contact with the recession 32 in plunger 34, and the plunger 34, which is biased downwardly by spring 42, commences an immediate descent. The descent of plunger 34 causes a rapid rotation by the knife 46 in a clockwise direction. The scissor elements 46 and 47 clip the stamps apart at the perforations between them.

It is important to be aware that the scissor-like structure for effecting the cutting function greatly decreases the amount of force which must be applied to the cutting element in a device of this kind with respect to the amount of force which is necessary where the cutting is performed by a guillotine-like structure.

Thereupon the feed blade 52, which is biased by spring 56, rotates counterclockwise and returns the feed carriage 60 to its starting position against the protruding portion 84 of the adjustment element 78.

The operator then may run the stamp which has been severed over the wheel 14 to moisten it, and apply it to an envelope.

FIGURE 2 is a graphic representation of the relationship of the movements of three elements in the device, the knife, the feed blade and the feed carriage. When an operator turns knob 12 in a clockwise direction, and a protrusion on lifter 24 comes in contact with the recession 32 in plunger 34, FIGURE 2 shows that the knife immediately begins to move. After a rotation of about 30 by knob 12, the feed blade 52 commences its movement. During the next 3 degrees of rotation of the knob 12, the fork 64 pivots about pin 65. During this pivotal movement by the fork 64, the feed carriage 60 does not move. When the knob 12 has ben rotated through 33, and fork 64 has completed the pivotal movement about pin 65 and is engaged with the perforations of the two stamps in channel 74, the feed carriage 60 commences to move. After turning the knob 12 through 70, as shown in FIGURE 2, whereupon the protrusion in the lifter 24 is disengaged with recession 32 and the plunger 34, the knife, the feed blade and the feed carriage commence and do return to their inoperative positions.

Although we have described our invention with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction (ill 5. and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

1 claim:

1. A stamp dispenser for dispensing a strip comprising at least one stamp, comprising a case, a shaft rotatably mounted in said case and adapted to be rotated manually, lifter means mounted on said shaft, said lifter means having at least one protrusion on the periphery thereof, plunger means reciprocally mounted in said case, and having a first recession and a second recession formed therein and a protrusion formed thereon, said first recession formed in said plunger means cooperating with a protrusion on the said lifter means and actuated thereby to move in a first direction, scissor cutting means cooperating with said second recession formed in said plunger means and actuated thereby, feed blade means rotatably mounted in said case, said feed blade means cooperating with said protrusion formed on said plunger means and actuated thereby to feed completely said strip of at least one stamp, feed carriage means mounted for reciprocal movement in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of the said scissor cutting means, a channel formed beneath said feed carriage means, said channel being substantially parallel to the plane of movement of the said feed carriage means and adapted to receive a strip of postage stamps, fork means connected to said feed carriage means and cooperating with said feed blade means, said fork means extending into said channel and adapted to extend into the perforations at the edge of a stamp in a strip of stamps, said feed blade means and said scissor cutting means cooperating with said plunger means in such a way that said scissor cutting means effects a cutting movement at the time said feed carriage means completes reciprocal movement in one direction.

2. A stamp dispenser in accordance with claim 1 which further includes a space formed within said case to store a strip of postage stamps.

3. A stamp dispenser in accordance with claim 1 which further includes a moistening means mounted in said case for moistening a stamp after it has been severed from a strip of stamps.

4. A stamp dispenser in accordance with claim 1 which further includes adjustable means operatively connected to said carriage means, whereby the distance traveled by said carriage means may be varied.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,009,102 11/ 1911 Schumann 83-224 1,244,708 10/1917 Crowell 11842 1,709,354 4/1929 Kohn'le 83-278 1,710,001 4/1929 Parks 1l842 1,858,207 5/1932 Hillmer 11842 2,061,524 11/1936 Storck 83-278 2,333,108 11/1943 Krueger et al 83--224 3,176,562 4/1965 Fitzgerald 83-247 X CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner.

R. I. SMITH, Assistant Examiner. 

